


Its In the Stars to Make Our Own Destiny

by snowbunnylester (xrosepetalsx)



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: M/M, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-25 11:44:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3809149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xrosepetalsx/pseuds/snowbunnylester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan and Phil meet at a support group for those whose soulmates have had their soulmarks removed, but Phil’s got a secret that could get him kicked out, and Dan’s only there because his parents are trying to force him to find his match. In the end, they’ll find happiness in each other – and maybe a little more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Its In the Stars to Make Our Own Destiny

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer** : In no way do I pretend that this is real or cast aspersions on Dan or Phil.
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY [mostlikelyprocrastinating](http://mostlikelyprocrastinating.tumblr.com)! I’ve been working on and off all week on this, which is most of the reason I’ve been a shitty responder to your messages. I hope you forgive me, and enjoy this birthday fic <3
> 
> SPECIAL SHOUTOUT TO: [pamoonblackbird](http://pamoonblackbird.tumblr.com) who you guys should definitely go to if you ever need help with story ideas, world building, or just fic advice in general! This entire idea is completely hers, with my spin and style on it. I can’t thank her enough for letting me have this world/idea. You might also want to check out her writing, as it’s totally amazing <3
> 
> More thanks to [notanannoyingfangirl](http://archiveofourown.org/users/notanannoyingfangirl/pseuds/notanannoyingfangirl) and [jordan-lacroix](http://jordan-lacroix.tumblr.com) for looking over this for me, and giving me reassurances. It was literally like being without one of my arms to have to hide this from my beta and best friend.

Phil wasn’t sure what he was doing here, sitting in on a meeting he wasn’t even supposed to be attending, rubbing the pads of his fingers over the soft, plain patch of skin on his wrist where his soulmark used to be - the mark his parents had had removed the moment he’d turned 10; the year the soulmating process was meant to begin.

The mark, which would have been slowly developing somewhere on the skin for the last 10 years or so of a person’s life, would finally be visible enough that each intricate detail could be scanned and detailed into a database that was meant to assure each person’s match that their soulmate was one, of age, and two, looking for them as well. Every year on their birthday from that point on, they would be offered a choice: to be registered, or have their soulmark removed.

On Phil’s 10th birthday, his parents had coerced him into signing the waiver that would permanently remove the mark from his skin.

Now he was left to regret it, without even a scar to remind him of that day. Instead, he had only the faintest memory of what his soulmark had looked like to begin with, and an aching heart at the thought of never getting the chance to find his soulmate.

If his parents found out he was at this meeting, they’d absolutely slaughter him.

“Hello everyone! It’s nice to see so many familiar faces, as well as a few new ones, tonight,” a dark haired women in a floral patterned dressed started from the front, laughing softly as Phil, and a few others, sunk into their seats out of pure embarrassment. Annoyed, Phil dropped his gaze, and let his dark fringe hide his face.

“Settle down, settle down. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. We’re all here for the same reason, after all,” the women continued with a little wink, rubbing her hands together before finally beginning. “So, as some of you may know, my name’s Shelly and, when I was 15, I found out my soulmate hadn’t re-registered in the database,” she said.

“I was devastated. No one could console me, and I cried myself to sleep that night. I couldn’t understand why my soulmate would just give up on me like that, and no matter how many times my mom tried to explain to me how some people were just convinced that soulmating was somehow bad, I couldn’t understand.”

Rolling his eyes, Phil crossed his arms over his chest at her words. He’d heard this story a million and one times before, and the plotline never changed.

“Eventually, my parents got me to return to school, where a support group was being held. I’d heard about them before, of course. Who hasn’t, am I right?” Shelly asked, laughing. A small spattering of low chuckles followed her comment, and then she continued.

“But I didn’t want to attend. It was only with my best friends insistence that I showed up, and, that’s where I learned to cope with what had happened to me,” she said, before taking a deep breathe to continue.

“Now, I know that there are hundreds of people every day who show up at support group meetings like this one hoping to find their match, and of course this is a safe place for that to happen, _but_ , that’s not what I’m here for. What I’m here for is to encourage you to move on with your lives. I know it hurts, and I know it’s hard, but finding your soulmate isn’t the only important thing in the world. Finding yourself is just as important.”

“What a load of crap,” Phil muttered to himself at that, kicking the toe of his shoe against the bottom of the empty seat in front of him. What did this lady know about finding yourself, anyway? he thought.

“Got that right,” a soft voice suddenly muttered from behind him, and Phil jumped, cheeks immediately flushing red in embarrassment as he slowly turned around.

To his shock, he came face to face with an irritated young man whose brown hair was styled in a strangely familiar cut to Phil’s own. His brown eyes were full of so much disdain, Phil didn’t know why he was here.

“I uh- sorry,” he mumbled quietly, embarrassed about being overheard. The intimidating young man, however, just smiled at him, causing a crater the size of Phil’s thumb to appear in his cheek that made Phil open his mouth in surprise with the intent of saying something else.

No words came out, and he dropped his gaze in horror at himself.

The man chuckled.

“It’s fine. I’m Dan, by the way,” he said, sticking out his hand for Phil to shake. Looking up, Phil took it, and smiled shyly back at him.

“Phil,” Phil murmured back as Shelly continued to speak behind them.

“Wanna hang out at break?” Dan asked after a moment, and Phil nodded his head, because yes. Yes, he kind of really did.

\--

“So, did your parents force you to come here, too?” Dan asked as they sat down on one of the benches outside, complimentary sandwiches clutched in their hands.

Phil shook his head.

“No. They don’t even know I’m here.”

Dan hummed in response, taking a bite out of his sandwich, and leaning back to stare despondently at the sky.

“Must be nice, getting the choice. Why are you here, then? Don’t tell me you actually believe in this bullshit. The way you were talking earlier made me think I’d found an equal in this.”

Phil didn’t answer. Instead, he unwrapped his own sandwich, and took a bite, gaze downcast.

He could see the entirety of Dan’s body splayed out messily besides his, and yet, somehow, the other man looked more put together than Phil did.

His black skinny jeans were practically glued to his long legs, framing them nicely, while Phil’s appeared baggy even when they were a size too small. His shoes, which were covered in zips and obviously well worn, still looked cleaner and newer than Phil’s own converse, which were scuffed at the tips and frayed along the edges.

The obvious difference made Phil feel uncared for, and unloved, reminding him what he was here for in the first place.

“Sorry,” Dan eventually continued, casting Phil a sidelong glance. “Didn’t mean to offend you.”

Phil shrugged.

“It’s not that,” he finally responded, dropping his sandwich into his lap. “It’s just funny, I guess, what you said. I never really got a choice,” he said, immediately biting his lip and avoiding Dan’s gaze, his heart beating unsteadily in his chest at the words nearly on the tip of his tongue – the confession which had gotten him kicked out of nearly every other support group he’d ever attended.

The only reason Phil was attending the one in Manchester to begin with.

“Why, because your soulmate took their name out of the database?” Dan scoffed, putting his own sandwich down as well. “Kind of unfair, considering they probably only did it out of fear of losing their own choice as well.”

Phil shook his head.

“That’s not it,” he responded.

“Then what is it?” Dan asked.

“My parents…they convinced me when I was ten that soulmates weren’t real. That the mark was some stupid system put into place to take people’s choice away. I had mine removed before I could make my own decision on the matter,” he explained, the irony of his own statement not lost on him as his fingers clenched around the fabric of his t-shirt, waiting for Dan to turn on him and laugh.

People like Phil were a mockery in this society, after all. The system was supposed to be set up to avoid parents forcing their children into giving up their soulmarks, and yet it still managed to happen – the problem was, no one ever believed them. Coming to support groups was the only sure fire way to find your soulmate, once one of them had been taken out of the system, but admitting to having no soulmark was the quickest way to being turned on.

There was no use attempting to explain that you’d had no choice. At least you were allowed to stay if you admitted that you’d made a mistake.

Phil had refused to do so for the last two years of his life.

“Woah. So like, you don’t have a soulmark?” Dan asked, forcing Phil out of his thoughts. Surprised by the excited tone of Dan’s voice, Phil looked up.

“No,” he said, and shook his head.

“Can I see?” Dan asked, face lit up with such obvious glee that Phil could do nothing but offer Dan his wrist.

Tanned fingers took it gently, grazing the soft skin there in such tender awe, it sent a shiver of pleasure up Phil’s spine.

“Holy shit, mate. Aren’t you lucky,” Dan mumbled.

“Not really,” Phil shot back, but there was no real venom in his voice. Instead, he was surprised to find himself oddly comforted by Dan’s words.

 --

When they returned to the meeting, they sat next to each other, shoulders brushing at the close proximity of their chairs (or maybe they were just leaning into each other, but no one needed to know that).

“Welcome back, everyone! I saw quite a few of you mingling outside, which is always great to hear!” Shelly began from the front, her eyes gleaming. “It’s a beautiful sight, to see so many people support each other.”

Phil rolled his eyes, laughing softly when Dan sent him a look of agreement.

“More like everyone’s desperate to get into each other’s pants,” Dan murmured into the shell of Phil’s ear. Phil bit his lip against a laugh, but his face was heating up again, and this time, he didn’t think it was because he was afraid of being caught not paying attention.

“That’s for sure,” he muttered back.

“I’d like to open up the floor to any questions you might have, now,” Shelly was saying. “Yes! You in the back.”

“What’s it like, to have the soulmark removed?”

“Probably bloody amazing,” Dan snorted, voice still soft but loud against the side of Phil’s face.

Phil turned a glare on him at that one, albeit a weak one, and smacked him lightly on the arm. Dan pulled a face, but otherwise appeared apologetic.

“What did it feel like, then?” he asked quietly.

“Like a thousand bee’s attacking your arm at once. I’m pretty sure it’s just the same as having a tattoo removed, but faster.”

“How in the world would it be faster?” Dan asked, brows furrowed. “Isn’t a soulmark meant to be, I don’t know, deeper?”

Phil shrugged.

“Guess not,” he replied, turning back away again to hide the pain in his eyes. Dan was so intrigued by the idea of having the mark removed that Phil felt compelled to explain to him, despite not wanting to talk about it at all.

“What about moving on?” another woman asked from the front of the room, her voice choked up with tears.

“Well, Kate. That’s a hard one,” Shelly began, but before Phil could hear the rest of her response, Dan turned to whisper into his ear again, the movement sending a wave of heat up Phil’s side.

“Of course it’s hard. What does she think this lady is, a dim wit?”

“Don’t you think the lady’s a dim wit for believing in all of this, Dan?”

“Yeah, but that’s different,” Dan replied, disgruntled. Phil laughed.

“Whatever you say, Dan.”

The meeting continued on in that vein, with Dan turning to murmur commentary into Phil’s ear, and Phil giving Dan his utmost attention.

His laughter was difficult to contain, but he held it together for the sake of Dan’s soft grins, and the way he shuffled closer to Phil with each new comment. The companionship felt oddly like home.

“I heard a rumor, once, that if the places where two soulmarks are supposed to exist, touch, then, even if a soulmark was removed, it would return. Is there any truth behind that?”

The words immediately caught Phil’s attention, who sat up straighter in his chair, anxious for the answer.

“Well Mary –“ Shelly began, but Phil didn’t get to hear the rest of her response. Instead, he shivered as Dan’s breath puffed up against his ear once again, and he began to speak.

“Desperate, much?” he asked, so close to Phil now. His arm had come up to settle around Phil’s shoulders, heating him up from the inside, and he couldn’t focus even if he tried. “Hey, Phil. Why don’t we try?”

“Shut up, Dan!” Phil chuckled, shoving him gently as he let himself sink into Dan’s smile, Shelly’s answer lost on him as he brushed the rumor aside.

“Hey, so, did you maybe wanna hang out after this?” Dan asked.

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

\--

Dan was a uni student at Manchester, whose parents had come down to visit for the weekend, consequently butting into Dan’s life, and forcing him to attend the support group meeting. Dan had explained about the many fights they’d gotten into over Dan having his soulmark removed when he turned ten, and how relieved Dan had been to register in the database that first year only to find that his own soulmate had been removed from the registry.

“They were definitely of age. The sign showed removed, not unregistered,” Dan had explained, shrugging.

“You know it’s completely your choice, right?” Phil had asked.

“You know as well as I do that that’s not true, Phil,” Dan had replied, “And besides…I didn’t want to disappoint my parents.”

They’d dropped the subject, then.

Now they were back at Phil apartment, playing video games and eating Cheetos while they raced each other in Mario Kart, because Dan’s parents were still at Dan’s, and Dan refused to go home until they’d gone.

“Take that, motherfucker!” Dan shouted, launching a blue shell at Phil, who was currently in first place.

“Shit!” Phil shouted, trying to hold the banana he had on hand behind him in an attempt to deflect the attempt, but he dropped it instead, and the blue shell hit, forcing him to spin out of control.

Dan laughed.

“Banana’s don’t deflect blue shells, you idiot! Only red!’

“It was worth a shot!” Phil replied with a shrug, laughing as well as Dan crossed the finish line in first place, leaving Phil behind to cross in fifth.

“Cheater,” Phil grumbled, but it was all in jest.

“Hey, I never promised to be nice when you decided you wanted to beat me at _Mario_ _Kart_.”

“You come into _my_ house, and eat _my_ food, and play _my_ video games –“

“Shut up, you’d probably be groveling around on the floor for something to do if I weren’t here!”

“Touche,” Phil replied, laughing, and the two settled back down against Phil’s sofa to continue their game.

If Phil shuffled closer to Dan, well, no one had to know.

\--

They continued on like that, in-between Dan’s classes, hanging out arbitrarily just because they got on so well.

Phil, however, continued attending the support group, while Dan refused to so much as walk Phil _there_ on Saturday afternoons. That didn’t stop him from coming over, or from staying there until Phil got back.

That didn’t stop him from being Phil’s friend, for which Phil was grateful, despite their obvious opposing views on the idea of soulmating.

It wasn’t until a month into their friendship that discussion of soulmarks even came up again, and then it was only because Dan’s parents had been on his ass again.

They were sat up on the roof of Phil’s apartment building, a few beers stacked between them, legs swinging gently over the edge. As always, they were probably huddled too close for comfort, but neither boy minded. In fact, Phil rather enjoyed it.

He’d never had the chance to grow this close to anyone since he’d turned 10 and had his mark removed. The news spread through the school quickly, and each time Phil moved on, the kids would bring it up again.

Having a friend after so long of being alone was wonderful to Phil, and he hoped he wouldn’t fuck it up.

“It’s just – I don’t understand why they have to pressure me so much to find my soulmate. I mean…I mean they – they aren’t even in the system anymore!” Dan hiccupped, groaning as he took another long swig of his beer.

Phil turned to look at him, concerned.

“They just want what’s best for you.”

“Fuck that! _Fuck_ that! How’s – how’s forcing me to tether myself to _who knows who_ best for me, Phil? I mean…I mean I know you don’t – don’t agree, but you’re lucky as _fuck!”_

Trying to ignore the way the words festered around Phil’s heart, Phil shook his head at Dan, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he slung an awkward limb over Dan’s shoulder, and pulled him into his side. Dan sighed and cuddled into him.

“You know you’re – you’re my best friend…right Phil?” Dan asked, hiccupping again as he turned to bury his face in Phil’s shoulder.

“Of course I know that, you turnip,” Phil responded.

“Goo-good.”

They were quiet for a while, both boys reveling in each other’s company, enjoying the night sky and the coolness of the air against their skin. Phil’s blank wrist was turned upwards, to soothe the empty feeling it always brought him. Dan, for his part, finally put down his beer, snatching up Phil’s wrist to run tanned fingers across it again.

The ache only got worse.

“What must it be like…to be free of this,” Dan wondered, but it was clear that he wasn’t really asking Phil. “If only it were in the stars…to make our own destiny,” Dan continued, his words a mumble of butchered Shakespeare.

Phil couldn’t help but chuckle, gently taking Dan’s fingers with the hand Dan wasn’t playing with, and removing them from his wrist.

“Ready to go back inside?” Phil asked.

Dan shook his head.

“Nah…don’t you like it out here?” he asked instead, words growing less and less slurred as the temperature decreased, and the beers remained untouched.

“Yeah,” Phil agreed, turning to slide backwards, and rest against the roof, arms crossed underneath his head.

Dan followed suit after a little while.

“Why do you want to find your soulmate so bad, Phil?” Dan eventually asked, after they’d been quiet for a while. Turning his head slightly, Phil found himself staring into the warm brown orbs he’d grown to love.

“Ever since I had my mark removed, I’ve never been wanted. I fight with my parents, constantly, over a decision that I can’t take back, and we don’t get along very well. They leave me alone…even though that’s not what I want,” Phil said, huffing out a bitter laugh.

“In school, no one wanted to know ‘souless Lester,’ and I was as much of a social pariah as the people born without a soulmark at all. Even they didn’t want to know me…” he continued. “So, having a soulmate…finding them? Well, that means finally being wanted.”

Dan was quiet, at those words, contemplative besides Phil, gaze turned back to the night sky. Phil followed his lead, turning back to the nearly starless sky. If they were back in his parent’s back yard, Phil would be able to point out the Ursa Major and Minor easily enough.

Deeper into the city of Manchester, however, the lights were too bright, and they were lucky enough to see Orian’s belt.

“Wouldn’t it be easier if we could just choose our own destinies?” Dan finally asked again, words less of a mumble as he turned back to Phil.

Phil didn’t answer for a moment, too focused on the way his heart was racing in his chest. He knew he agreed with Dan, with the overall wish that soulmating wasn’t a _thing_ , especially because he could feel deep seated feelings growing in the pit of his stomach with each moment he spent with Dan, but at the same time, he was scared to admit it.

Scared to admit to wishing the world wasn’t so complicated. Scared to admit that he’d pick Dan over a soulmate any day. Scared to admit that, deep down, he wished Dan _was_ his soulmate, because his dreams had been a part of him for so long now, that it was difficult to give up the notion that someone out there was _meant for him_.

So he didn’t say anything.

Dan sighed, and, out of the corner of his eye, Phil thought he saw disappointment flash across Dan’s face. The thought of it made Phil’s heart swoop in a bad way, and tears prick at the corners of his eyes. Was Dan disappointed in _him_ , or was he disappointed, maybe, that Phil wasn’t willing to take a leap of faith with him?

Was Dan feeling the same way Phil was feeling?

“Can I – can I see your soulmark?” Phil suddenly blurted, eyes going wide in horror at the taboo statement. He bolted upright, gaze fixed in his lap, as he waited for Dan to scream at him.

Instead, the sound of shuffling and a snort came from beside him, and Dan was suddenly rolling up the sleeves of his sweatshirt.

“That’s usually the first question everyone asks. Even me,” Dan responded, tossing Phil a genial smile as his movements continued. “It’s fine, don’t stress about it Phil. Here,” he said, and offered Phil his wrist.

Dotted just over the vein of his left wrist, a bright sun-like design stared up at Phil, its colors so bright it was almost blinding. There were reds, and oranges, and yellows all bleeding into each other, forming  sharp rays that nearly looked like fire against Dan’s tanned skin.

Awed, Phil couldn’t help feeling like something was familiar.

“Wow,” he said.

“Yeah,” Dan replied, taking his wrist back, and rolling down his sleeve. “I mean, if I’ve got to be stuck with something, I’m glad it’s that.”

\--

As the two were about to fall asleep, Phil mumbled the words “If we could choose our own destinies, I’d choose you.”

He knows he didn’t imagine the smile that formed on Dan’s lips, but by the next morning, neither boy said a word about it.

\--

“What do you do, anyway? I’ve literally been hanging out here for over a month, and I’ve never once seen you go to work.”

“That’s because I work from home, dumbass.”

“Yeah, but still. I spend more of my time here than at my own apartment,” Dan said, crossing his feet at the ankles on Phil’s coffee table, TV remote clutched in his hands as he flipped through the channels. “You can’t possibly get any work done without me noticing.”

Phil scoffed, sipping at his coffee, and slipping a clip into place on the video editing software he had open on his laptop.

“I work when you’re not paying attention, or when I get up in the morning and find you asleep on my sofa. I’m working now, actually,” he said, smiling when Dan’s head immediately whipped around to look at him.

“What, really?” Dan asked, jumping up and making his way to Phil’s side. Grinning, Phil turned the laptop screen so Dan could see it.

Dan squinted at the screen, his bottom lip trapped between his teeth as he tried to understand what Phil was doing. Phil’s gaze, meanwhile, was stuck on the little bit of tongue he could see sticking out, and the fullness of Dan’s lips.

“So…you edit videos?” Dan finally asked after a moment.

“Yeah. TV commercials, youtube videos, things like that,” he agreed, finally removing his gaze from his in depth study of Dan’s mouth. “Much more entertaining than Law, and I make a lot of money doing it.”

“Hey!” Dan grumbled, swatting Phil on the arm. “I’ll have you know, when I become the top attorney of the country, I’ll be throwing my money in your face,” he replied, shoving Phil when he laughed at him.

“No, but seriously…this is really cool, Phil. How’d you get into it?” he asked, his voice so sincere Phil could do nothing but explain to him the steps he’d taken to get his degree.

“I mean, it’s kind of a competitive field, I guess, but it’s not too late to change your major now,” Phil assured him as Dan drummed his fingers on the kitchen barstool in front of him, eyes downcast. Reaching out, Phil gently placed his hand on top of Dan’s.

“Seriously, Dan. You could do it, if you wanted. I’d be with you every step of the way.”

Dan shook his head, looking up to smile at Phil, eyes a little red.

“Yeah…maybe. I think my parents just might kill me if I gave up law, though.”

As Dan returned to his seat on the sofa, flipping through the channels with renewed vigor, Phil couldn’t help but wish his parents would let up on him. He was clearly dejected, and hated Law, but they were so adamant about being in charge of their son’s future, that they couldn’t see it.

It was no wonder Dan hated the idea of having fate choose his destined mate.

With a heavy sigh, Phil saved his progress, and gently closed the lid of macbook.

“Wanna watch Princess Monoke?”

“Yes!”

\--

That weekend, Phil stopped attending the support group.

\--

Phil came across it on accident. He was supposed to be looking for his passport, the one his parents had borrowed with the intention of renewing it for him, but never got around to, when he stumbles across the only remaining evidence of what Phil’s soulmark had once looked like.

Once fully developed, the government required each soulmark to be professionally documented, even if the bearer chose to have it removed.

Phil knew his parents hadn’t thrown the picture out, as that was against the law, but he hadn’t expected them to have it stashed away with the rest of their important documents, either. They’d seemed pretty set on the idea of Phil forgetting what the thing looked like so he could make his own future, and yet here it was, lying in plain sight, just under Phil’s forgotten passport.

Phil would have been excited if the design weren’t as familiar as it was.

Staring him in the face was the same red, yellow, and orange, sun-like soulmark pressed into Dan’s tanned skin, and as amazed as Phil was to find out Dan was his soulmate, he feared what would happen if Dan were to find out as well.

Fate had decided they belonged together, and despite them finding each other _without_ the distinguishing mark, Phil feared Dan was so against fate, that he would push him away.

Gulping, Phil shoved the image back under a bunch of old documents, picked up his passport, and left.

\--

It came as a relief for Phil when his passport was reinstated, and he started packing to go on his trip to Florida for a month to help work on some mini-movie project with a full team of editors. He’d be gone just long enough for the nerves wracking his body over the realization that Dan was his soulmate to go away.

He hadn’t been able to so much as look at Dan without a pang of longing searing through his heart for the past week, and the odd behavior hadn’t gone unnoticed.

The worst part however, was that Phil didn’t _just_ want Dan because he was his soulmate. He’d already decided he wanted Dan long before he’d found out, but now the fear of Dan rejecting him just to avoid fate seared like a brand through every hope and dream he’d ever had for them, and he was scared Dan would leave him without a second thought if he ever found out.

So he packed, and he ignored that groaning noises Dan was making behind him about how he was going to survive without Phil, and tried to pretend that everything was going to be alright.

“You’ll be fine, Dan! I’m just going away for a month. It’s not like I’m leaving you forever,” he said with a chuckle, shoving another pair of jeans into his luggage.

“But _Phiiiiil_. Mid-terms are coming up, and we haven’t studied in ages!”

“That’s because every time I try and force you to sit down, we end up playing video games into the dead of the night instead.

Dan pouted, legs crossed under him as he sat on top of Phil’s duvet.

“Yeah, well…still.”

“You’ll do fine,” Phil promised. “And I’ll be back before you know it.”

Dan didn’t respond. Instead, he left Phil to finish packing. Phil could feel his gaze burning a hole into his back with each movement across the room, and tried to hide the blush that formed on his cheeks.

Finally, after about another hour, Phil finished packing, and glanced at his watch. His plane was meant to leave in another four hours, which meant he should head out to the airport now if he wanted to get his bags checked in time.

“Come on, Dan. Walk me out,” Phil said, yanking on his backpack, and pulling his suitcase behind him, tossing Dan a shy smile.

Grumbling, Dan did as he was told.

Between the two of them, they managed to turn off all the lights, and make sure all the windows were shut and locked, before they’d made it to the front door, where Dan stood with his hands stuffed in his front pockets.

Slowly, Phil opened the door, and turned to look at Dan.

“So, I was thinking,” he started, heart hammering in his chest. “It’s hard to study in the library at school, I know, and your own apartment is clearly a distraction, so…here,” he said, thrusting out his hand to Dan.

In the center of his palm sat a key to Phil’s apartment.

Dan stared at it with wide eyes.

“I…are you sure?” he asked.

“Of course I’m sure. I trust you, and you already stay here whether I’m here or not anyway,” Phil said with a short roll of his eyes. “And besides. You said you’d miss me, so…”

“Thanks, Phil,” Dan said quietly, voice sounding suspiciously croaky as he reached out and took the offered key.

“You’re welcome.”

\--

“I can’t do this, Phil. The test is tomorrow night, and I’m not _ready_ ,” Dan cried, his voice hollow and broken over the phone line. Phil clutched his phone tighter to his ear, and wished he could be there right now to hold Dan tight.

“Hey, it’s going to be okay, Bear. There’s always the make-up. Just go in tomorrow, try your best, and if you fail, then you can tak-“

“ _I don’t want to do this anymore, Phil!”_ Dan screeched, and that’s when it became clear to Phil that Dan was most definitely crying. Biting his lip, Phil willed his own tears away.

“I hate law, and I hate university, and I hate always doing _everything_ to make my parent’s happy! When do I get to take control over my own life? When do I get to stop feeling guilty for not wanting to follow fate’s _design_ or whatever the fuck it is!? Damnit, Phil, _I just_ …I’m done.”

“Then be done. It’s okay to give up something you hate, Dan. It’s okay.”

As Dan cried to him over the crackly phone line, Phil promised himself he’d never tell Dan about their matching soulmarks.

\--

“I quit Law,” Dan said, voice quiet and low.

“That’s good, right?”

“My parents are pissed.”

Phil scoffed.

“Well, screw them. You weren’t happy anyway.”

Dan laughed.

“I know.”

“So what are you going to do now?”

“I was thinking…I could go into video editing, like you?” Dan asked, his voice so quiet, Phil almost couldn’t hear him.

“Yeah, I think that’s a great idea!” Phil replied with as much enthusiasm as he could muster at 3 o’clock in the morning.

“Really?” Dan replied, voice much louder, and much more excited now. It was enough to make Phil feel like being up this late when he had to get to work in three hours was definitely worth it.

“Really,” he said.

“And you’ll help me, right?” Dan asked. “The whole way? You won’t give up on me, right?”

Phil laughed fondly.

“Of course not, Dan.”

The line went quiet, Phil gently starting to drift back to sleep to the soft lullaby of Dan’s breathing, and then –

“I miss you.”

The line went dead.

\--

Phil was nervous as he got off the plane, nervous as he grabbed a cab, and nervous as he approached his apartment building.

Dan knew he was coming home today, sometime in the late evening, and knowing Dan’s schedule by heart, Phil was certain that the other male would be in his apartment waiting for him.

His feelings had grown no less strong during the month he’d been away.

The elevator ride felt like an eternity as Phil watched the lift count its way up to the 22nd floor. He gulped as it pinged, and the doors slid open.

The hallway before him was empty, but as Phil’s door got closer and closer, his breathing increased. His heart was beating a mile a minute, and he was trying to calm it down before he was forced to face Dan, but it didn’t seem like that was going to happen.

He wasn’t even sure _why_ he was so nervous. Maybe it was because he’d come to terms with his feelings during his month of being away. Maybe it was because of the gifts he’d brought back for the excitable Dan. Maybe it was because it felt both amazing, and frightening, to be coming home to Dan, despite the fact that they weren’t even together.

Maybe it was because it had become clear over the month of phone calls that Dan liked him just as much as Phil liked Dan.

Maybe it was because Phil had decided he’d fallen in love.

His apartment door was in front of him, now. The sound of his TV could be heard through the soft wood, and he smiled, nerves suddenly gone, as he pressed in his key, and walked in.

“You’re home!” Dan’s voice screeched from the lounge, the sound of heavy feet pounding against wood reaching Phil’s ears. He dropped his stuff on the ground, and met Dan halfway.

Before he could do anything else, Dan had swept Phil up into a hug, wrapping his arms around Phil’s midriff, and burying his face into his chest.

Phil sighed in relief, and embraced Dan back.

“I’m home,” Phil said.

They stood like that for what felt like an eternity, but Phil never wanted to let go. Having Dan in his arms after a month, having Dan in his arms _at all_ , was such a wonderful experience that he wished they could stay like this forever, but eventually, Dan pulled away.

Trying to hide his disappointment, Phil projected false cheer onto his face, and started babbling before he could stop himself.

“I brought you back a few presents. You’d better appreciate me, you nerd. I spent all of my money on making sure I got you the best of the best,” Phil was saying, gesticulating wildly as he tried to avoid Dan’s gaze.

“And I’ve got some pictures, and the final project on my laptop, if you wanted to see it. I could even show you the editing process, if, you know, you’re still interested, and –“

“Phil,” Dan said, finally cutting him off, gentle smile gracing his soft features.

Phil stopped.

“Y-yeah?” he asked, gulping as Dan took a step closer to him.

“Shut up,” he said, grabbing Phil’s face between his hands, and kissing him.

Dan’s lips felt like heaven against Phil’s, chapped but warm and sweet, sending waves of pleasure crashing up and down Phil’s spine. The fingers of Dan’s hands were soft against Phil’s cheeks, and his eyelashes fluttered gently against Phil’s skin, leaving butterfly kisses in their wake.

When they pulled away, all Phil could do was smile.

“I don’t believe in soulmates, Phil,” Dan murmured against his lips, “But I believe in you.”

The words were so cheesy, all Phil could do was laugh, pulling away from Dan to clutch at his stomach. Dan was laughing too, eyes lit up in so much joy, Phil just wanted to hug him again.

And then something wonderful happened.

Dan reached out for Phil’s right hand with his left, lacing their fingers together, and causing their wrists to press together.

A sharp lance of pain erupted between them, and then Phil was clutching at his skin, down on his knees in pain. Dan scrambled to his side, wrapping his arm around Phil’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort, rocking them both as Phil grimaced against the heat in his wrist.

Eventually, the pain subsided.

“Are you okay?” Dan asked.

“Yeah…’m fine,” Phil huffed back, panting as he gently removed his hand.

Dan gasped.

Staring back at them was the red, orange, and yellow sun-like soulmark that matched identically with Dan’s.


End file.
